Star Wars: "The Journal of the Whills" 1973
SOURCES The Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzler, Del Rey 2007 Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle by Ryder Windham, DK 2010 Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker by Alan Dean Foster (George Lucas, credited), Del Rey 1976 Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997 Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas by Dale Pollock, First Samuel French Edition, 1990 Empire Building: The Remarkable Real Life Story of STAR WARS by Garry Jenkins, Citadel Press 1997 HISTORY The Journal of the Whills is the earliest known background material for Star WarsThe Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzler, Del Rey 2007, Page 8. At first there were lists of character names, then a brief story synopsis, and eventually the Journal of the Whills became the name for all the history and backstory materials George Lucas developed to define the Star Wars universeStar Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 6. Early drafts of the Star Wars scriptThe Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzler, Del Rey 2007, Page 27 as well as the novelizationStar Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker by Alan Dean Foster (George Lucas, credited), Del Rey 1976, Prologue of the film reference the Journal of the Whills as an in-story historical chronicle of events. CHARACTER NAMES Emperor Ford Xerxes XII or Alexander Xerxes XII - Emperor of Decarte, Xenos, C.2. or C.J.Thorpe - a space pilot, Roland, Monroe, Kane, Hayden, Crispin, Leila, Zena, Owen or Lars or Owen Lars - an Imperial General, Mace Windy - a Jedi-Bendu, Wan, Star, Bail, Biggs, Bligh, Cain, Clegg, Fleet, Valorum, Han Solo - Leader of the Hubble People, Lord Anakin Starkiller - King of Bebers, Luke Skywalker - Prince of Bebers LOCALES Yoshiro or Aquilae - desert planet, Brunhuld or Alderaan - city planet and capital of the Border System as well as home of the Hubble and Beber People, Anchorhead, Bestine, Starbuck, Lundee, Yavin, Kissel, Herald Square "...jungle and desert planets and a gaseous world with a city suspended in the clouds."Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas by Dale Pollock, First Samuel French Edition, 1990, p 134. While Dale Pollock offers extensive descriptions of the original treatment in his book, Skywalking, he discusses it as though THE JOURNAL OF THE WHILLS were part of the treatment for THE STAR WARS, and summarizes the two as though they are the same story. JOURNAL OF THE WHILLS I (2 PAGE HANDWRITTEN STORY SYNOPSIS) Opening lines: "This is the story of Mace Windy, a revered Jedi-Bendu of Ophuchi, as related to us by C.J. Thorpe, a padawan learner to the famed Jedi."Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle by Ryder Windham, DK 2010, Page 29 Pollock misreads the hand-written treatment and describes the character as Mace Windu. Pollock does not mention the treatment by name, saying only that it tells "the story of Mace Windu...". In a later work outlining the history of STAR WARS, Garry Jenkins repeats this, going as far as misidentifying the treatment with the title ''The Story of Mace Windu.''Empire Building: The Remarkable Real Life Story of STAR WARS by Garry Jenkins, Citadel Press 1997, p 52.'' ''This'' ''suggests that Jenkins was simply referencing Pollock as a source. Continuation of Page 1 (transcription): "I am Chuiee Two Thorpe of Kissel. My father is Han Dardell Thorpe, chief pilot of the renown galactic cruiser Tarnack. As a family we were not rich, except in honor, and valuing this above all mundane possessions, I chose the profession of my father, rather than a more profitable career. I was 16 I believe, and pilot of the trawler Bolmung, when my ambitions demanded that I enter the exalted Intersystems Academy to train as a potential Jedi-templer. It is here that I became padawan learner to the great Mace Windy, highest of all Jedi-Bendu masters, and at that time, Warlord to the Chairman of the Alliance of Independent Systems. "Never shall I forget the occasion upon which I first set eyes upon Mace Windy. It was at the great feast of the Pleabs. There were gathered under one roof the most powerful warriors in the galaxy, and although I realize my adoration of the Master might easily influence my memory, when he entered the hall, these great and noble warlords fell silent. It was said that he was the most gifted and powerful man in the Independent System. Some felt he was even more powerful than the Imperial leader of the Galactic Empire." Continuation of Page 2 (paraphrased): Windy's comrades feared him and conspired to expel him from the royal forces; Chuiee begs to remain in Windy's service until he can finish his training JOURNAL OF THE WHILLS II Fragment (transcription): "It was four years later that our greatest adventure began. We were guardians on a shipment of fusion portables to Yavin, when we were summoned to the desolate second planet of Yoshiro by a mysterious courier from the Chairman of the Alliance." REFERENCES IN STORY "And in the time of greatest despair there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as: THE SON OF THE SUNS." - Journal of the Whills, 3:127 (From "The Adventures of the Starkiller", 1975 2nd draft) "From the beginning they were vastly outnumbered by the systems held in thrall by the Emperor. In those dark days it seemed certain the bright flame of resistance would be extinguished before it could cast the light of new truth across a galaxy of oppressed and beaten peoples..." - From the First Saga, ''Journal of the Whills'' In Disney's new canon, the concept of the Whills is incorporated into the saga. Guardians of the Whills are introduced in ROGUE ONE as monks who protect the Jedi Temple. QUOTES George Lucas: "Originally, I was trying to have the story be told by somebody else... somebody probably wiser than the mortal players in the actual events. I eventually dropped this idea, and the concepts behind the Whills turned into the Force. But the Whills became part of this massive amounts of notes, quotes, background information that I used for the scripts; the stories were actually taken from the 'Journal of the Whills'." References